Noam Elimelech · Tzetel Katan · Maamar י From the Torah ofRebbe Elimelech of Lizhenskרבי אלימלך מליז'נסקProfile ›

Unbroken Learning: Not Even a Stray Thought

From the moment he wakes and finishes Tikkun Chatzos, how should a person hold to his learning? R’ Elimelech asks for more than staying in his seat: he guards even the mind against stray thoughts, and names the only thoughts he allows. Why should staying with the sefer change him?

10Let him take great care to learn steadily, keeping his fixed portions in order: from the moment he rises from sleep and has said Tikkun Chatzos, the midnight lament over the Destruction, and the Tzetel Katan, the “little note,” let him not move from the sefer he is learning even for a moment. Each time he sits down to learn, after he has said Tefillas HaShav, the penitent's prayer, which begins “Please, Hashem …,” and the prayer for Torah study from Shaarei Tziyon, which begins “I hereby wish to learn,” let him try with all his strength to make no interruption, not even with another thought. The only thoughts he allows himself are the thought of his learning and the thought of the Tzetel Katan that is before his eyes, for the light within [the Torah he stays with]¹ will bring him back to the good.²

י. יִזָּהֵר מְאוֹד בְּהַתְמָדַת הַלִּימּוּד שִׁיעוּרִין כְּסִדְרָן, תֵּיכֶף וּמִיָּד אַחַר קוּמוֹ מִשִּׁינְתּוֹ וְאַחַר אָמְרוֹ תִּיקּוּן חֲצוֹת וְהַצעטיל קָטָן, לֹא יָזוּז מֵהַסֵּפֶר שֶׁלּוֹמֵד בּוֹ אֲפִילּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת. בְּכָל פַּעַם שֶׁיְּיַשֵּׁב אֶת עַצְמוֹ לִלְמוֹד, וְאַחַר שֶׁיֹּאמַר תְּפִלַּת הַשָּׁב הַמַּתְחֶלֶת "אָנָּא הַשֵּׁם" וְכוּ׳ וּתְפִילַּת הַתַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה בְּשַׁעֲרֵי צִיּוֹן הַמַּתְחֶלֶת "הִנְנִי רוֹצֶה לִלְמוֹד", יִרְאֶה בְּכָל כֹּחוֹ שֶׁלֹּא לַעֲשׂוֹת שׁוּם הֶפְסֵק אֲפִילּוּ בְּמַחְשָׁבָה אַחֶרֶת, זוּלַת מַחְשֶׁבֶת הַלִּימּוּד וּמַחְשֶׁבֶת הַצעטיל קָטָן שֶׁהוּא לִפְנֵי עֵינָיו, כִּי הַמָּאוֹר שֶׁבָּהּ יַחֲזִירֶנּוּ לְמוּטָב:

Editor's note: The Hebrew says only “the light within it.” It seems “it” is the Torah, since these are Chazal's words about the Torah. ↩
Eichah Rabbah, Petichta 2, said of the Torah: “the light within it would bring them back to the good.” ↩

In shortLearning should run unbroken from the moment of waking, with no stray thought beyond the learning itself and the Tzetel Katan before his eyes.

The maamar as a whole

Item 10 turns to Torah study and asks for steadiness: fixed portions in order, begun right after waking, Tikkun Chatzos and the reading of the Tzetel Katan, with no leaving the sefer even for a moment. Each sitting opens with Tefillas HaShav and the prayer for learning from Shaarei Tziyon, and then no interruption is allowed, not even in thought, except the learning itself and the little note before his eyes. The reason he gives is Chazal’s: the light within the Torah brings a person back to the good. In his scheme, the earlier items fill the idle hours and guard prayer and pleasure; here the learning itself becomes the place where a person is steadily repaired, provided he does not let his mind wander from it.

Takeaway

Once you sit down to learn, hold to it without a break, even in thought, for R' Elimelech, in Chazal's words, teaches that the light within the Torah brings a person back to the good.

Learn this in the merit of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk. His yahrzeit and life ›

All of Noam Elimelech

Sources he cites

Sefarim he cites